'Bad Education' Is a Fascinating Film About Corruption and Investigative Journalism

Bad Education is based on the true story of Dr. Frank Tassone (played by Hugh Jackman), the superintendent of the school district in Long Island wherein the overachieving Roslyn High School is located.  A charismatic, brilliant, empathetic, and dedicated educator and administrator, he is recognized as the primary reason of the school’s outstanding performance, which in turn increased the real estate value of the surrounding area and stimulated the local economy.  As a result, he is well beloved by students and parents alike.  However, as it turns out, he and his assistant superintendent, Pam Gluckin (Allison Janney), have been all this time secretly embezzling school funds to sustain their lavish lifestyles.  All in all, they stole a whoppin’ $11 million – the largest school theft in American history.

The movie gives a fictional account on how their crime is uncovered.  This narrative revolves around student reporter Rachel Bhargava (Geraldine Viswanathan) – a fictional character, but mostly based on Rebekah Rombom, the editor-in-chief of the school paper that published the article, which prompted The New York Times and other big papers to look into it and which sparked a criminal investigation.  She was just supposed to write an article about the new skywalk that the school is building, but when she decided to dig deeper – ironically, after Tassone encourages her to go the extra mile – she begins discovering discrepancies in the district’s finances.

Bad Education is more interesting than it seems to be.  It’s partly a riveting character study drama, powered by an Oscar-worthy performance by Hugh Jackman.  It’s also an amusing black comedy, generating absurd humor from its inappropriate scenario.  But my favorite thing in this film is probably the investigative journalism aspect.

Now, I don’t necessarily consider its depiction of cinematic journalism enjoyably gripping (my standard of which being All the President’s Men and Spotlight) and I understand the sleuthing shown in this movie isn’t accurate with how the school paper got wind of the information they need to break the story in real life, but still, it’ll be one of the films I will recommend if I'm asked for recommendations on films about journalism.  I found the student reporter Rachel’s arc engrossing and powerful, particularly on how she struggled with publishing the article and how she eventually found the courage to do so.

Overall, Bad Education is undoubtedly one of the most notable movies of 2020 so far.  It’s funny, thoughtful, absorbing, and – most importantly – has a genuinely worthwhile message to say.